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Happy 2014! I feel like this is going to be a good one, friends. Granted, I did wake up with a body full of aches and angry sinuses, but let’s look on the bright side: It was a cold, not the flu. Nailed it. 🙂

This year I want to try more, do more, see more, and get the nasty loose ends that I tend to have floating around all tied up. I want to spend time with the people that I really care about and enjoy what I have. The last couple of years have been a project in trying to live more simply, and that project is going to continue. It’s been a productive first week of the year and I predict it will only get better.

You may ask, what does this have to do with buckwheat cranberry bars? Absolutely nothing, except that I had cranberries and buckwheat and I wanted some bars. I’m just jamming here. Making something delightful with what I’ve got. With that in mind, enjoy and I hope you all have a happy, healthy, lovely-all-around year!

What you need for the base:

1.5 cups gf oatmeal

1/2 cup walnuts

3 Tbsp hemp seeds

2 Tbsp chia seeds

2/3 cup buckwheat flour

1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup (depending on the level of sweetness you like)

dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

What you need for the cranberry topping:

1 package cranberries

3 Tbsp gf all-purpose flour

2-3 Tbsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp lemon juiceFirst, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. For the base, combine all ingredients except buckwheat in a food processor or magic bullet and mix until a thick paste is formed. Once the paste is formed, mix with buckwheat as above. Spread into a loaf pan lined with parchment. Prepare the cranberry topping.Mix cranberries, syrup, flour, and lemon juice and spread over based.Next step: bake for about 40 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Eat and enjoy!Noodles also wants to wish you a happy new year. He’d also like to get his grubby little paws on some bars. 🙂

Hooray for another Virtual Vegan Potluck! It was such a blast participating in potluck last spring that I couldn’t pass up a chance to do it all again. So many incredible vegan recipes out there brought to you by some equally awesome bloggers and I’m proud to be a part of it!

For my entry, I present to you delicious, spicy Romesco sauce. It’s good with roasted veg, pasta, rice, crepes, pretty much most things. It’s also relatively easy to whip up is great at a party, not only for its mad skillz as a dip, but it’s a pretty great dancer too.

What you need for Romesco:

2 slices of gluten-free bread, pan-toasted in a little olive oil

2 large slicing tomatoes, cut in half and roasted

2 red bell peppers, cut in half and roasted

5-6 cloves of garlic, cut in half and roasted

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pecans

1 handful italian parsely, chopped

3 Tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp (or more, in my case more like 1 full tsp) red pepper flakes

Pinch of chili pepper

salt and pepper to tastePreheat the oven to 400 degrees. While heating, slice your tomatoes, peppers, and peel garlic cloves. Lay all on large baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes, until soft, but not mushy.While roasting, toast thy bread to a lovely golden brown! Just make sure it’s in a non-stick skillet and with about 2 Tbsp olive oil. I used Essential Baking whole seed bread, but any non-glutinous (and non-sweet) bread will work. Focaccia would be primo!Gather the rest of your beautiful ingredients, such as lovely pecans. You could also use almonds or cashews here, but there’s something about the earthiness of pecans that I think really works.Put everything in a high speed blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. If you need more moisture, add 1 tbsp of water as needed, but it should be good, thick sauce. It’ll keep about a week in the fridge if you decide to make it beforehand.

Now, for the veg part! I apologize, because these photos were taken at night, which is always kind of a shame. What can you do? Seasons will be seasons after all.What you need:

First, soak your beans for at least 6 hours, then cook until tender. The water in the pot with the beans should be about 3 inches above the beans, and cooking will take about 45 minutes. If using cans, just drain and rinse.

While the oven is still nice and hot, toss your chopped potato, cauli, beets, and romanesco with olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread evenly on a large cookie sheet.

Place the shallots, zucchini, and mushrooms in a non-stick skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil. Saute until brown and tender, then add kale with a handful of water. Cover and cook for 1-2 minutes, then remove lid of skillet and cook to desired level of tenderness.Once roasted veggies are done, toss with sauteed goodies then pour on your lovely romesco sauce. If you made it ahead of time just be sure to reheat it before putting it all together.

It’s been a while my food-loving friends, and I apologize! Late summer was filled with travels and basking in abundant laziness with my Master’s degree finished. Sure, I’m working full time, but man oh man, days off are sweet when they don’t have to be full of lectures and papers. I’ve been cooking all the while, but haven’t felt much like taking photos or writing anything. After a long respite, I’m happy to share this tasty little dish with you all.

Ooooh, fall. How I love your colors and many squashes.

This soup is very simple to make, filled with spicy and sweet notes, and smooth as butta (as in buttanut…). It’s great for warming up after a chilly day outside.

What you need:

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 butternut squash, halved and roasted

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large apple, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 tbsp curry powder

1.5 cups de puy, brown, or red lentils, cooked

4 cups water or vegetable broth

Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare the butternut by slicing it lengthwise, removing seeds, rubbing with olive oil, and laying flesh down on a baking sheet. The roasting will take 25-30 min, but it’ll be done when it’s soft and the flesh side is browned.

At the same time, cook your lentils by adding 2 cups of water to a pot, bringing to gentle boil, and adding rinsed lentils. Cover and let simmer until tender.

While the squash is roasting, add the chopped garlic, onion, and apple to a soup pot with the olive oil. Saute until lightly browned, then add curry powder and brown for 1 more minute. Add the water or veggie broth to deglaze.

Simmer until the squash is ready, then chop the squash into large chunks (including the skin). Add squash to the pot. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth in batches (or use an immersion blender). Return blended soup to pot, simmer, and salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked lentils. Eat and be happy!

It’s been warm, sunny, and gorgeous in the good ol’ PNW this week. Yesterday it was even muggy, which is VERY unusual and kind of uninspiring for most things. Except when it comes to popsicles. Mugginess really does inspire a good popsicle spree, and who doesn’t love popsicles? Especially SUPERFOOD popsicles. OOOOOOHHHH! AAAAHHHH! Buzzwords! Mainly these are just straight up delicious though.Ah, the magical goji berry. I love these little guys. Smoothies, granola, on yogurt, in baked goods…they kind of kick ass anywhere that you think “Oh, a berry might fit nicely there.” And apparently they’re full of all sorts of good-for-you properties too. Let’s get down to the popsicle spree though.

What you need:

1 can light coconut milk

3 Tbsp raw cacao powder

1/4 goji berries

1/4 cup cacao nibs

1/4 cup maple syrup

An extremely strong arm for some intense whisking

Popsicle mouldsDirections: Put everything into a bowl and whisk like you’re whisking for your life! Once everything’s combined, pour into popsicle moulds and be sure to leave about an inch of space at the top (freezing expands the liquid a bit).After a few hours or overnight, run the mould under warm water to loosen the popsicle, remove, and devour. 🙂Look at those beautiful goji berries!I loved this pop so much, I felt like it needed a self portrait.Noodles felt like he wanted this pop so much he tried to melt it with his laser beam eyes. (DON’T FEED CHOCOLATE TO DOGS!!! Just FYI)

And now:This is my beautiful momma and me when I was just a wee little thing. She’s the one who’s inspired most of my cooking and for that and so many other much more important reasons, I can’t thank her enough. I’m a lucky duck. Happy Mother’s Day to her and to all my many friends who are mommas or are soon-to-be-mommas! The world wouldn’t go round without you, ladies! Thanks for being you!

I’m so proud to be participating in this years Virtual Vegan Potluck with so many fantastic food bloggers! Over 170 bloggers around the world are uniting to bring the veggie-friendly foodlovers of the world some deIiciousness. I RSVP’d that I’d “bring” a salad to this interweb party, and here’s what I’ve created….a little dish that’s quick to throw together and full of spring veggie goodness and starring my good friend fennel.What you need:

1 bulb fennel, THINLY sliced

1 zucchini, thinly sliced (yes, this is a trend…when in doubt, slice even thinner)

1/2 head cauliflower, thinly sliced

1 bunch asparagus, lightly steamed and chopped

1.5 avocados, thinly sliced

1 cup snap peas, chopped

1 head green romaine lettuce, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp good-quality olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons

Salt and pepper to tasteStart by very gently steaming your asparagus so that it remains crisp, but turns bright, beautiful green.

After that, slice and chop your way to vegetable perfection and toss it all in a bowl.Add lemon juice and olive oil to your salad bowl, toss so that everything is lightly coated. The dressing should be SUPER light to show-off all them veggies in their glory, but you could also add a little whole grain mustard to kick it up a notch. Salt and pepper to taste, and bam! You have a beautiful green salad for your potluck and your belly!Just look how happy this salad made Lori of Crown Hill Day by Day. (I won’t lie, the joy was also due to some incredibly fuzzy socks).

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Modern Hippie Cooks, thank you so much for the nomination for this year’s Liebster Award! Since I’m so new to the blogosphere, I hadn’t heard of the Liebster Award, so for those of you like me, I’ll fill you in.

1. I’m a veterinarian; 2. I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was the ripe old age of 3; 3. I love surfing; 4. My dog goes with me nearly everywhere; 5. I’m addicted to learning; 6. Twin Peaks scared the crap out of me; 7. If I don’t get out into the wilderness once weekly, I get cranky; 8. The ocean is my favorite; 9. I eat edamame stupidly fast; 10. Time with my friends and family makes me realize just how lucky Iam every day.

Questions from Modern Hippie Cooks:

1. What inspired you to start blogging? Changing my diet really changed the way I feel everyday, and I wanted to share some of the recipes that I love to create. I’ve also been looking for a creative outlet to write a bit more and work on my photo skills, and I’ve had so much fun!

2. What is your favourite season? I love the briskness and sun that comes with fall, but man, oh man do I love those long sunny days of summer.

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Life has been busy of late, and I find that if I don’t make myself a big batch of food to get me through the week, I wear out pretty quickly. Today, while getting ready for a long week of work and school I had a hankering (that’s right, I said a hankering) for something kinda chocolately, kinda coconutty, kinda sweet, and really energizing. Hence, power buddies were born. They don’t look like much, but they more than meet all the requirements and taste delicious with a subtle sweetness. I’d say they’re less cookie, and more new and improved energy bar. Or energy lump.

Makes about 20 buddies.

1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats

1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

3/4 cup raw crunchy almond butter

4 Tbsp chia seeds (2 of which will be mixed with 6 Tbsp water to form a gel, the other 2 sprinkled in separately)

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar (or you could use maple syrup here, which would be absolutely delicious)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp cacao powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer (or an extremely powerful wrist), mix coconut oil and sugar, and beat in chia gel, almond butter, and vanilla. Sift together all dry ingredients, and add dry to wet and continue stirring or beating on low speed.

This week I’ve been an inexplicable craving for pancakes. This happens about once a year, and when it does, I really need the pancakes. Since I’ve been avoiding gluten, I don’t have any pancake mix that I can eat in the house, so I decided to improvise and make a up a quick batch and it worked. So easy and mad tasty.

Makes about 15 small pancakes:

3/4 cup of buckwheat groats, ground into flour (can also just use pre-ground flour if you’ve got it)

First, grind your groats (pictured above)! The conversion is 1:1 groat:flour. I find that my magic bullet does this nicely. Also, in case nobody’s told you yet, buckwheat is the best. It tasted fantastic, has lots of protein and is nutritionally very dense, and can be used anywhere whole wheat is. Now, moving on.

Sift together all dry ingredients.

Whisk together egg and milk and add wet to dry. Stir in blueberries and apple. Grease a griddle with coconut oil. Spoon on batter and cook until golden brown on each side.

Serve with walnuts, maple syrup, or whatever else sounds good to you. Eat them all! (the above version has apples, raisins, chia seeds, and shredded coconut)

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I’ve been staring at one ugly buddy in my fridge for the past 5 days, wondering what to do with it. His name is celeriac, and I keep hearing how awesome he is, but I didn’t really know how to make it work. Thanks to an article from NPR, today I got a spark of inspiration. Peppers, celeriac, some nice, fresh cilantro….yes, oh yes, the peppers will be stuffed.

What else did I have on hand, you ask? Pinto beans, quoinoa, avocado, some manchego cheese, and beautiful, beautiful braising greens from Full Circle Farms. These peppers at least got to be eaten knowing they brought ridiculous deliciousness to my belly.

What you need: Serves 2

2 red peppers

grapeseed oil

1 celeriac (celery root) out knobs removed and chopped

1 avocado

1 cup of pinto beans (soaked and cooked, or use canned if you’re in a hurry)

Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped roughly

1 cup quinoa, dry

2 cups of H2O

1/4 red onion (I cooked it into the quinoa)

A small amount of cheese, grated (omit if you’re doing this vegan style)

First prepare the quinoa by placing chopped onion in a pot, and saute with grapeseed or coconut oil until softened and slightly brown. Add two cups of water, and bring to boil. Add quinoa and cilantro, reduce heat, and cook until done (about 20 min). Set aside.

Saute the greens over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp of grapseed oil a handful of water, a few chili flakes if you like (I do), sea salt and pepper, along with a good squirt of lemon or lime.

When all that’s done, mix quinoa, beans, celeriac, greens, and chicaoji sauce in a bowl with a few more squirts of lemon or lime. Slice your peppers in half and place in a baking dish. Fill peppers with stuffing and add a 4 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the dish.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, until peppers are slightly soft. Top with avocado, goat yogurt, and serve!

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I first encountered this tasty little number at a coffee shop that called it a Beautiful Stephanie, for reasons I don’t know. Call me crazy, but I assume a beautiful Stephanie was involved somewhere in the naming process. My powers of inference are astounding. Anyway, my version of a beautiful stephanie includes almond milk, vanilla early grey tea, a bit of maple syrup, and vanilla in bean or extract form. It’s warm, aromatic, and all-around lovely on a cold afternoon.

Makes 1 serving.

8 oz of almond, coconut, rice, or hemp milk

1 tsp of vanilla early grey tea (I love Townshend’s version)

Maple syrup to taste

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped or just a dash of vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in a saucepan, heat over low-medium heat (DON’T BOIL, especially if you’re using rice milk!). Stir, strain, and serve.